Mineral separator



y 1935. w. R. J; woocK MINERAL SEPARATOR Filed Aug. 11, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet l WEE ll'ill May 21, 1935. w. R. J. woocK MINERAL SEPARATOR Filed Aug. 11, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 WR.J. W000]:

ATTO R N EY y 1935- w. R. J. woocK MINERAL SEPARATOR Filed Aug. 11, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 WRJWJZJ HZ BYQ ATTORNEY Patented May 21, 1935 z',oo1,1ss

h successor. V g Walter R. J. Woock, Auburn calii'. Application August 1.1.. 1933l ScrlalNcrM68ll This invention relates. to the art machinery and especiallyto apparatus for the separation of precious minerals and metal bear in: sands, such as the so called black sand and the like, from mineral hearing sands. and gravel.

The. principal object. of the. invention is to produce a movable riflle element. or analogous structure whereby as the precious. metals or metal bearing sands moving through the separator are deposited in the riflles of the rifileelement. they will be carried away from the separating zone and be washed free of'the rifiles in a continuous operation. By this-step a continuous. and uni mterruptcd. operation of separation of the metals of the'coarse material may be had, without. the ncenssaiy'shut downs now usual in the operation of stationary sluice boxes in order to allow the periodical clean-up of the separated metals.

A further object. of the inventionis to produce a. mineral separating apparatus having adjust, ments and instmmentalities whereby the basic assay. value. of the finally separated minerals may be accurately controlled. This is of importance as iirmanyinstances it the percentageot values in the final clean up is kept high profitable operation of low grade sands and gravel may be had since many times the cost of reducing the miner-i als determines the question oi profltable or non profitable operation oi mining properties.

Another object ofthe invention is to produce a separating apparatus having a large range oi capacity with emciency of operation whether a large or small amount of the initial coarse mateas rial is being moved through the same. I

Still another object is to provide a combination of mechanismswhereby there may be obtained the advantages of the usual sluice box coupled with those of the method used in hand panning of minerals indulged in by theindividual miner or prospector whereby the maximum amount or silt will be removed from the finally separated minerals thus materially building up the basic percentage of values in'the final clean up.

A still further object is to produce a'siinple mechanism which will be inexpensive from the,

standpoint of both manuiacture and operation and which may be readily manufactured tor either a portable or stationary installation. 7

These objects I accomplish by means of such r structure and relative arrangement of parts as pill fully appear by; a perusal of the following specification andclaims. I g r Y-In the drawings'sin ilar characters oi-rcierence indicate correspondingpartsm the scveralviews:

and metal bearing sands from the general run fcrjalm; (011,. zoHsl oi minim:

Fig. l is a side elevation of my improved san aratorlfl' l V Fig. 2 is a sectional viewof a iracmentary par v tion of that end of the separator into which, the

original coarse material is delivered and from 5.

which 'the final separated-minerals are. discv charged... I

' .Fig. 8 is aside elevation or :afragmen-tary pom tion' of the separator showing the end thereof at m which the elm-discharged.

Fig. is a detailed view at an overrunning: ratchet clutch used in moving the rifile belt.

Referring now more particularly to the. char, acters of reference on the drawings, the numeral l designates a supporting frame improved 15 separator which frame may be made up of any desired material appropriately strengthened and supported to efiectively carry the parts in the relationship hereinafter described. The numeral 2 designates an inclined sluicehox in which may 29 be disposed screening elementsand'i-n which is alsodisposed then-cycling rifle belt. to be pres entiy described. This'mcmber 2 comprises essen. tially two side plates and a bottom plate; the

screens being mtorposed'between the side plates 25 and the movable rile belt moving over the bot tom of the samobelowthe screen.

The sluice box I carrying the coarse material usually carried through the-medium of a flow of water is mounted above the box I and the coarse gravel or sand is carried down this sluice box and the tailing: discharged at the lower end thereof in the usual manner.

Adjacent one end ofthis sluice box- 3 is pro vided' a grizzly 4 or any desired mesh but prescreen elements may be arranged in the box I in order to progressively screen the fine material containing values from the coarser non-valuable material. I

In the present instance I show two screens 6 and'ldispcsed onebelow the other and the materials' will screen therethrough as they move through the box I the course material discharging into the tailing pile atthe lower end of the box 2. Below the screens 8 and I I preferably provide a pebble flow resistor 8 comprising a top fine mesh screen Baand alowercoarser mesh screen 8b with fine pebbles 8o interposed between the two screens 8a and tb. This flow resistor is disposed very closely adjacent the riflle belt which is mov.

ing over the bottomof thebox I and which will be 55 described in detail later. The function of this resistor is to break up the cataract flow of the water through the separator so as to cause it to fiow smoothly and gently over the rifile belt.

The box 2 has a pair of spaced fiat rails 9 and lo respectively mounted for reciprocating movement on rollers ll and. :2 respectively mounted in the supporting frame I.

A pair of rigid arms I3 is secured to the sides of the box 2, and mounted in the outer end there-. of is a-Toller QM. shaft I5 driven from any suitable sourceqof power has mounted thereon a double faced cam 16 cooperating with the roller 14 in order to intermittently impart movement to the box 2 in one direction with the rotation of the" tion to that imparted by the accuser metamis provided by means of compression springs ll mounted on the frame I and acting against'lugs lsjsecured tolthe sides. of ithebox :2 and projecting in the paths of said springs H. The .cam.

. drives the box 2. in .onefdirection against the compression of the springs I1 and the expansion of the springs fsnaps it back in the opposite direction" as theoam. moves off .of..-the. roller 14. There is thus imparted to the box 2 a vibrating actionv with the .rails- 9.-:-.and .10 riding on the rollers. Ill and 12.; 1 Thea-extent of. the. vibration imparted 'to the box:2.-is"determined by the ten-- sionof the springs. ll whichjmay be set by-an adjustment bolti lii. IIIhemeturn action of the box 2 under theinfluence .ofnthe springs ll may be cushioned to desired extent by rubber or other resilient bumpers2fichaving=an adjustment bolt 2lto adjustablycfix itsposition;

- It will thusbe apparentxthat' by, reason of .this possible vibration of the box;:2 the flow of the material over thescreens and-through the pebble filter will-bejsubjectto a'severe shaking or vibrating' action. whereby the relatively heavy metals or metal bearing sands will be effectively precipitated down to the, bottom, of the box 2. These metals or metal bearing sands having been thus separated from the .coarser material which dischargesonto the ,tailing pile at the-end of the box 2, I thenprovide the continuous rifiie belt 22lfor receiving and finally separating-the same, which rifile belt and its cooperating: parts are constructedand operate substantially as follows:

The riifle belt may ofJc'ourse be of any partic ular structure, whichwilli answer the purpose, but I preferably makethe same in the form of a rubber belt having moldedtherein eitherconcentrated pockets ,or rifiies. In the-present instance this belt '22 has formed thereon rifiles 23 forming intermediate crevices 24 forming together the rifiles for catching the separated minerals. The belt moves over the bottom plate 2a of the box 2 with the 'riiiles facing upward beneath the pebble resistor 53.. This resistor 8;.functions to smooth out the current flow of thezwater containing the fine particles of precious metal and thus the precious-metals or metal bearing sands will gently settle. into theriflies on the beltas it moves along ;under this pebble resiston, The belt moves :in'a direction opposite to the movement of the material passing through the box 2 so that the-finally recovered minerals are carried by thebelt .outv of the box 2 while the coarser non-valuable jmaterial moves in the opposite direction and discharges on the tailing pile at the tail end ofthe box; The .movement of the means .of the .following'mechanism:

parted to the wheel 33. ment may be controlled by the adjustment of the pin 29 along the slot 36, thus varying the speed the shaft 32 is fixed a ratchet wheel 33. At the upper end of the ratchet lever 3! are pivoted a plurality of overrunning ratchets '34 which engage the ratchet wheel 33 at progressively different points so that with the operation of the ratchet lever an intermittent movement is im- The degree of this moveof 'movement of the ratchet lever 3 l Also fixed to the shaft 32 so as to move in unison with the wheel 33 is a sprocket wheel 35, connected by a drivenchain 3G with another sprocket wheel 3'! on a shaft 38 supported operatively from the end of the box 2, there being an idler wheel assembly 39 to maintain the tension of the chain 38 as the box Zvibrates back and forth.

On the shaft 38 is mounted a roller 49 which is themain driving roller for the belt22 and over which the belt moves down through a chute. 4| and under another roller 42 journaled in aframe 2bsecured to thebox 2; thence over athird roller 43 'journaled in. the frame I; and thence under another roller 44 journaledatthe opposite end of the box 2 after passing over. which the belt 22 commences its travel overthebottom of such box 2;

As the belt 22 passes underthe roller 42 it moves through a washing trough 45 which is kept full of, water and the accumulated minerals on such belt are cleared from the riffies at this point and may be carriedaway to a suitable depositary through an outlet pipe 46. Any values falling off of the. rifiles before they reach this washing trough will fall into the chute 42 and be carried down into the trough, as will be apparent.

In order to thoroughly wash as much silt as possible from the finally separated minerals which have settled. into the riffies on the riflie belt 22 I provide ahead of the box-2ca washing mechanism which comprises primarily a pan 41.: The bottom of this pan is parallel with and just abovethe traveling belt 22, and since the belt is moving in an inclined plane, water delivered into the pan 4! through the delivery pipe 48 in finding its own level will leave a body of water 49 in the pan the level of which will be maintained just above the'bottom of the-pan atits upper end as at50. Thispan 4'! is fixed relative to the box 2 so'that with thevibration of the box this water will; be agitated so that a small portion of it will be con.- tinually washed out the open end of the pan at 50 onto the rifiles of thetraveling belt 22. This action will be similar to the action of washing water from an'ordinary miners pan and will act. to clear off accumulated silt-from the minerals in the riffles in the belt and carry the same down the inclination of the belt and into the tailing pile. By means of this action a very eifective cleaning of the separated minerals may be had whereby the final percentage of values in the finally recovered minerals willbe materiallyincreased.

v Itfwill be obvious from the foregoing description that as the cam l6 cooperating with the spring I! functions, the entire body of the box 2 carrying the screens, the pebble resistor, and the r fi ebe t may b br t tahi ate of p this action giving a highly intensified vibration to the entire separator assembly. This causes the agitation of the coarse material to separate the metals and metal bearing sands therefrom and also the agitation of the metals and sands in the riflles of the belt. This latter action in turn causes the precious metals and heavier sands to settle into the lowest crevices of the riflles and being there caught or separated from the'waste material. Then, as a final action, the washing of the water from the pan 4! functions to further clean the fine silts from the separated minerals and results in a very high percentage of values being recovered in a mostsimple, eifective and inexpensive manner.

It will be obvious that if the riille element 22 is not movable in the manner described but was stationary as is usual with most sluice boxes it a would only be a matter of a very short time when My machine therefore may be operated con-,

tinuously in a most reflective manner which is highly important in connection with hydraulic mining operations where "the value bearing gravels or sands are being continuously washed away under hydraulic pressure and where a shut down of the separating means must necessarily require a shut down of the entire mining operations pending the clean up of the minerals required where stationary sluice boxes are used.

It will be obvious that the various adjustments described for my machine permit me to vary at will the speed of the movingrifiies and the violence of the screen agitating means and this gives me a complete control of proper separation according to the character of the material being fed to the machine and the speed with which it is being fed.

While I have described the separator as involving the use of screens, nevertheless the machine is also adapted to operate without any screens, for the purpose of using it instead of a stationary sluice box known as the head box, the purpose of which is to catch all the coarse minerals in which instance the traveling riflie belt would function to continuously discharge the mineral as it accumulated in the riflies.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced; such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention what .I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A mineral separator comprising an inclined sluice box, screening elements arranged therein, a riille belt one run of which is adapted to move through the box under the screening elements, a flushing tank, the other run'of the belt being adapted to move through such flushing tank, means to impart vibration to the box and. belt, means to impart motion to the belt in the direction of the high end of the box, a water pan on the box at its high end, the uppermost end of the pan being open at a level just above the belt, and means to maintain water in the pan to the level of such open end thereby with the vibration of the pan. water will be washed over such end onto the belt.

WALTER R. J. WOOCK. 

